Distribution
Category:
ALFALFA
Sweet clover is probably indigenous to the semi-arid
regions of Asia. The name Bokhara would seem to indicate as much, but it
is also found in many parts of Europe, and if the facts were known, was
doubtless brought from Europe to North America by the first settlers.
For many decades it has been represented in many flower gardens in all
parts of the country.
The plant will endure almost any amount of cold when it is once
established. It has stood well the winters of Manitoba. It can also
endure extreme summer heat, since it thrives well in some parts of
Texas. It grows most vigorously where the rainfall is abundant, as in
Western Oregon, and it makes a strong growth in the dry areas of Western
Kansas and Nebraska.
Sweet clover will grow vigorously in some part or parts of every State
in the Union. Of course, it has higher adaptation for some conditions
than others. In some of the Central and Southern States, it has
multiplied to such an extent without cultivation as to have assumed the
character of a weed; hence, the legislation against it. When it is
called to mind that this plant is a legume, and when the further fact is
recognized that it may be used not only in enriching soils, but at the
same time improving them mechanically, in addition to other benefits
that it may be made to render, surely the enactments which prohibit its
growth should be repealed in any State where these exist. In the
Northern States, with a normal rainfall, the mission of this plant is
likely to be circumscribed, for the reason that other legumes possessed
of a much higher food value may be grown in these. In the Southern
States, its mission will be more important, since it may be used in some
of these with decided advantage in binding soils and in renovating them,
even when too poor to produce a vigorous growth of cow peas. It is
likely also that it may yet be made to render good service in the
semi-arid country west of the Mississippi River, where other clovers
cannot be grown.
Sweet clover will grow in all the provinces of Canada. For economic
uses, however, it is not likely to grow to any great extent east of Lake
Superior, or west of the Rocky Mountains. Other legumes more useful may
be grown in these areas. But in the intervening wheat-growing region it
is possible that it may come to be used for purposes of soil
renovation.
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Sweet Clover
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